A rapid surge in donations worldwide swelled the coffers of
funds raised or pledged for emergency relief in countries hit by
tsunamis that killed more than 125,000 people.

People worldwide have jammed phone lines and websites to give
millions of dollars, outpacing their own governments in their
generosity.

Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova donated $US10,000
($A12,940), saying she "loved giving back". "I think it's very
important to help those that are in need," she said.

Finns lined up in the cold in Helsinki to contribute. The
country of just 5 million people quickly raised $US4 million ($A5.8
million).

Italians raised $US17 million ($A22.0 million) by sending
special text messages on their mobile phones.

Even Amazon.com collected $US4.8 million ($A6.2 million) in
donations from online shoppers at its website.

The government of Britain led the field with a pledge of $US96
million ($A123.3 million), followed by those of Sweden, the
Netherlands and France which offered tens of millions of dollars
more than they had previously amid charges that wealthy countries
were "stingy."

The government funds would reach disaster victims in Asia
through various channels including aid groups like the
International Committee of the Red Cross as well as UN and other
international institutions.

The World Bank also announced it would release $US250 million
($A321 million) to help tackle the immediate aftermath of the
disaster.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan announced late today that more
than half a billion dollars had been pledged for the tsunami
victims, including funds from the World Bank and more than 30
states.

Private donations were also particularly high, with tens of
millions of dollars pouring in from across the United States, as
well as Britain, Italy and the Netherlands.

Private companies joined the act. Many in Europe and the United
States have said they will match contributions by employees. Others
have donated cash outright.

The American drug company Pfizer Inc has pledged $US10 million
($A12.9 million) in cash and $US25 million ($A32.4 million) in
medical supplies; Johnson & Johnson $US2 million ($A2.6
million) plus supplies; and finance group J.P. Morgan Chase up to
$US3 million ($A3.9 million), including matched employee
contributions.

The British telecoms firm Vodafone pledged nearly $US2 million
($A2.6 million), the Dutch financial services group ING pledged
$US1 million ($A1.3 million) and the German utility firm E.ON
donated $US1.4 million ($A1.8 million).

The American Red Cross said today it has received $US18 million
($A23.1 million) and CARE USA more than $US3.5 million ($A4.5
million) from the public, and the donations are expected soon to
match the $US35 million ($A45 million) pledged by the US
government.

British charities under the umbrella of the Disasters Emergency
Committee (DEC) said their appeals had netted £20 million
($A49.5 million) in aid in 48 hours.

The British campaign involved charities like Oxfam, Save the
Children, the British Red Cross, World Vision, and Christian
Aid.

Queen Elizabeth II has also contributed a "substantial" but
undisclosed sum, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.

Two Canadian provinces set aside aid worth $US10.8 million
($A13.9 million) for Asian tsunami victims, bringing Canada's total
government aid package to $44 million ($A47 million).

In Italy, a media campaign reportedly netted more than 11
million euro ($A19.3 million) from mobile phone users while the
Italian foreign ministry has set aside three million euro ($A5.3
million) for immediate relief.

A similar campaign in the Netherlands, launched by aid groups
including UNICEF, the Red Cross and Medecins Sans Frontieres, had
already brought in 9.3 million euro ($A16.3 million) by today.

US President George W Bush on Wednesday hit back at criticism
from a UN official that offers by wealthy nations had been
"stingy," but the New York Times and the French newspaper
Le Figaro agreed with the UN official.

Meanwhile, Bush said Australia, India, Japan and the United
States would form a "core group" to deal with the crisis - US
officials insisted this would not conflict with the job of the UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), charged
with overseeing global relief operations.

The governments of Australia, Britain, Canada, France, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and the United States have all
dramatically increased their pledges of aid in the last few
days.

The French government has now pledged a total of at $US56
million ($A71.9 million), including its portion of a 20 million
euro ($A35 million) European Union aid program.

Other leading government contributors were Japan at $US40
million ($A51.4 million), the Netherlands at $US36 million ($A46.2
million), Canada at $US32.8 million ($A42.1 million), Germany at
$US27 million ($A34.67 million), Australia at $A35 million,
Portugal at $US11 million ($A14.1 million), Saudi Arabia at $US10
million ($A12.8 million), and Arab Gulf neighbour of Qatar at $US10
million ($A12.8 million).

Smaller contributions from 15 other countries, most of them
European nations but also China, Iran and Kuwait amounted to more
than $US25 million ($A32.1 million), according to figures compiled
by AFP.

The worldwide drive also involves smaller non-government
organisations, ethnic Indian and Sri Lankan communities overseas,
professional associations and religious institutions.

Private companies have also been mobilising to boost the
groundswell of government aid, with corporations pledging millions
of dollars of aid.

They were all in the process of transferring money or organising
cargo flights carrying food, fresh water, medical supplies,
clothing and tents to stricken countries.

The United Nations has said the aid needed over the coming
months was likely to exceed the previous record UN appeal of $US1.6
billion ($A2 billion) for Iraq last year.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that five million
people had been displaced, and said a massive health crisis was
building.

Tsunamis triggered by an earthquake off Indonesia on Sunday
swept over a vast swath of coastlines, including those in India,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives, Somalia, Sri Lanka and
Thailand.